SparkToro

What do Google, Reddit, AI Overviews, reviews, and podcasts have in common? They all influence what people believe before a click ever happens. That’s why the old playbook — rank the page, win the click, call it a day — is not enough anymore. A wave of recent research suggests the real job is bigger now. We need to show up credibly across the web, publish proof, and make it easier for people (and platforms) to understand what your brand actually does well. More in Amanda Natividad’s latest on the SparkToro blog. https://lnkd.in/gRG-CYe4

Too many marketing decisions still look like this: “Let’s try LinkedIn ads.” “Let’s start a podcast.” “Let’s invest in influencers.” But without audience research, that’s basically educated guessing. Marketing works better when it starts with evidence. And you get that evidence through audience research. It's how you find out things like: - what media your audience consumes - who they trust - which communities they participate in - what topics already capture their attention When you know that, marketing shifts from: “What should we do?” to “Where should we show up?” And that’s a much easier question to answer.

The best opportunities often sit where everyone else is under-investing. For example, research from Nielsen found that 66% of global media plans were under-invested in digital video, despite strong performance potential. This happens everywhere: - podcasts before they were saturated - niche newsletters - emerging creator communities By the time a channel feels “safe,” it’s usually crowded. The savviest marketers uncover where their audience is paying attention — and that their competitors haven't fully flooded yet. Audience research helps you find those pockets early. That’s where you'll find your next unfair advantage.

Clicks tell you what people did. They rarely tell you what influenced them. A huge amount of marketing influence happens long before the click — through things like: - podcasts - niche communities - newsletters - word of mouth - dark social Research consistently shows that source credibility and alignment between influencers and audiences significantly strengthens marketing impact. This means knowing who (and what) your audience trusts matters more than ever. And if you don’t know the answer, you’re flying blind. Great marketers don’t just analyze traffic. They analyze influence.

Marketing teams often skip the most important question: Who actually influences your audience? ❌ Not your target demographic. ❌ Not your ICP. ✅ The people, publications, podcasts, and communities that influence what they pay attention to. Audience segmentation and understanding shared behaviors is foundational to effective marketing because messages perform better when they’re tailored to specific groups and the channels they trust. But most teams still start with channels, tactics, and campaigns; instead of where their audience already pays attention. Audience research flips the order. Instead of guessing where to distribute content, you discover: - the creators your audience trusts - the communities they participate in - the sources that shape their thinking And suddenly marketing stops feeling like shouting into the void. It becomes showing up where influence already exists.

Some LinkedIn posts take off instantly. Others sit quietly for hours… then suddenly explode. Why? One theory: LinkedIn may actually run two algorithmic stages. First: retrieval — deciding if your post should even appear in someone’s feed. Second: ranking — deciding where it shows up. Most “LinkedIn growth” advice focuses on ranking. But if your post never enters the candidate pool, ranking never even happens. We broke it down on the SparkToro blog: https://lnkd.in/gXeK9UeQ

We’re taking you back to one of our best Office Hours episodes. In it, Rand Fishkin breaks down why most content never gets traction, how to optimize for amplification, and more. It’s completely free and ad-free too! https://lnkd.in/gZY4mdCr

Marketers have been asking us a simple question: "SparkToro shows me which search engines and AI tools my audience uses — but can it tell me what they’re actually searching and prompting?" The answer is YES! SparkToro now shows the AI prompt topics your audience is likely using in tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Claude, and more — plus affinity scores and example prompts similar to what they’re asking. We built this to help marketers better understand audience behavior in AI, not just search. And because you can export those example prompts, you can also use them to track your brand’s AI visibility. This is v1.0 of AI prompt insights in SparkToro, and we’d love your feedback. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gKUehK_E

SparkToro’s Search & AI Tools data just got smarter. We’ve upgraded the graph to show the % of your audience *who actually searches or prompts* on Google, ChatGPT, Yahoo, Claude, DeepSeek, and more — not just who visits those platforms. Because prompting and visiting are very different behaviors. Google visitors overwhelmingly search. Only about half of ChatGPT visitors prompt the tool. Yahoo visitors may be there for news, weather, sports, or finance. Now your audience research reflects that reality more accurately. Available now for all SparkToro users. Learn more on the blog: https://lnkd.in/gthH-j3e

Search isn’t just traditional engines and AI tools – it’s happening everywhere from social networks to content platforms to e-commerce sites, and beyond. In our latest research, thanks to Datos’ extensive desktop device panel, we explore the quantity of search volume that happens across the web. Rand Fishkin walks you through it: https://lnkd.in/gfJ7KGUk